The Bone Orchard

The town looks sweet, cider on every breath, smiles on every porch. But Cass Ryder tastes the rot under it. She came from the city thinking farm country meant bar fights and stolen cows. She didn’t expect graves lined up like seeds. A skull turns up under the apple trees. Then another. Each buried upright. Each set like someone was planting them to grow. Folks whisper about the Orchard Man — a story Cass used to laugh off. But the trail runs back through decades, twisting straight into her past and the brother who never came home. Every clue drags her closer, every secret pulls tighter. Until she finds a fresh grave waiting, her own name carved on the lid. And that’s when Cass learns the orchard isn’t just hiding bodies, It’s waiting for her.